Featuring John Basinger

  Middletown, Conn. – “Attend the Lords of France and Burgandy, Gloucester.” And so begins the journey of The King.  Is this the definition of insanity?  Is this man the reincarnation today of the real King Lear?  Is this man an actor who, having performed Lear so many times that he can’t get out of the role?  Is this man simply one of us obsessed with the tragedy of life, both then and now, that he is compelled forever to repeat his errors?

“The King (Lear)” will be performed Thursday February 9, Friday February 10, and Saturday February 11 at 7:30pm.  The play, conceived and adapted by John Basinger, is the story of King Lear, from one man’s perspective – Lear’s.  The performances will benefit Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater.  The production is directed by James Stidfole. 

Said Basinger, “I had really decided that to take on King Lear for a full production in 2009, I needed to begin learning the part so I could fully commit.  It took me a good year, year and a half to get it all in my head.  When it looked like the production would falter after Jeffery [Allen] left, it struck me that it is really an odd play – so much of the play goes on around Lear and is enacted by other characters.  Having done all of Paradise Lost as a live performance, recreating the characters, it wasn’t much of a leap to say, this could be done with [King] Lear.”

Basinger might be best known throughout central CT for his marathon performance of Milton’s “Paradise Lost” from memory.  Basinger began his career in theater 43 years ago with the National Theater of the Deaf, touring a good portion of the world with them.  Since that time he has appeared in movies, taught theater at Three Rivers Community College, slammed poetry and wrote and directed plays, most recently the outdoor historic drama, “Benedict Arnold: A Brave Revenge” presented in Groton in 2003.

Artistically, Basinger believes that there is a wide range of interpretation that can be brought to this character through this adaptation.  “Certainly, you can see doing it as an exercise in theater – how to solve the problem of Lear.  There is a problem with Lear, a serious problem.  It has been cobbled together from several pieces.  There is not an explanation of Lear’s dilemma.  It is right there.  Other than being the inciting incident for all of this other action, you don’t need Lear.  He is not an agent of action.  He gives away his power at the beginning, and then we don’t need to listen to him rant and rave.  So part of this is an experiment for how to explore Lear.”

Tickets are $25.00 for adults and $12 for students and can be purchased by calling the box office at (860) 347-6143 or online at www.oddfellows.org

About Oddfellows Playhouse:

Oddfellows Playhouse is located at 128 Washington Street, Middletown.   For more than 35 years Oddfellows Playhouse has been more than just a performing arts program.  It aims to make a positive difference in the lives of 1,500 young people each year by using the arts as tools to build self-confidence, communication skills, a sense of responsibility, and an appreciation for the richness and diversity of the world in which we live.
Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater
128 Washington Street
Middletown, CT 06457
860-347-6143 phone
860-343-1592 fax
www.oddfellows.org

Enjoy the performance of EXIT 43 from January 6th @ “The Tree”!

There will be 3 shows from the Anything Goes Open Mic which will air Tuesdays.

February 7,2012
February 14, 2012
February 21,2012

The 4th show, titled: “Me and Mine at The Buttonwood Tree”, will air on February28, 2012  and will be filmed at The Buttonwood Tree on Friday, Jan 13th.

Peace and joy, Anne-Marie

Happy merries to all of you out there who tune in for our monthly show celebrating the music of Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, a.k.a. The Grand Slambovians.  Rather than our usual 4th sunday of the month slot which falls smack-dab on Xmas, James and I will be serving up a holiday dose this coming Thursday 12/29 from 7-9 p.m. on WBCR-lp, 97.7 Great Barrington, streaming at www.berkshireradio.org

Jeanne

This past year we were able to increase our event offerings and our open hours due to the wonderful volunteer team we had, and to the substantial funding provided by JOHNSON CONSULTING. We are indebted to Jeffrey Johnson for giving us the means to move forward and grow. We invite you to join us in our mission too! Memberships are available – call us, drop in, or see the posting online where you can join online at any time.

Our second New Year’s Eve party is bigger than we can contain!!  We are joining with the Community Health Center and others to ring in the new year – 2012!  12 venues up and down Main Street will host entertainment, classes and fun activities for all ages. See Middnight.org for further details. See below for the list of events scheduled at The Buttonwood Tree!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS @ The Buttonwood Tree!
New Year’s Eve 2011

3pm -Middletown & Musicians- 
Hosted By WNPR’s Jeff Cohen

Is it because we’re halfway between New York and Boston? Is it because Middletown is fertile ground for music and musicians? In a panel discussion hosted by WNPR’s Jeff Cohen, we’ll spend 45 minutes talking with Middletown musicians about what drew them to the city, what keeps them here, and the link between creativity and community.

Jeff has worked in news since 2001, most recently as the city reporter for the Hartford Courant.

While at the paper, he won a National Headliner Award for a Northeast Magazine story about the ostracized widow of the state’s first casualty in Iraq; wrote about his post-Katrina, flooded out home in New Orleans; and was part of a team of reporters that broke the stories of alleged corruption at Hartford City Hall that led to the arrest of Mayor Eddie A. Perez.

Before his time at the Courant, Jeff worked at the Meriden Record-Journal and as a freelancer for the New York Times. He lives in Middletown with his wife, two daughters, and their cats.

4-6pm Radio Adventure Theater
 – Hosted by WNPR’s Catie Talarski

It’s Radio Adventure Theater — New Years Edition! Join WNPR Senior Producer Catie Talarski as we ring in the new year like they might have in the 1920s — sitting around the old-fashioned radio. We’ll celebrate new beginnings by listening to live music and interesting, weird and wonderful radio. Don’t know what to expect?! Think: old-fashion variety show meets This American Life; Listening session meets jam session.

Catie is senior producer of Where We Live, the morning news program on WNPR.  She oversees production of the Colin McEnroe Show and manages the production internship program at WNPR.  Catie is also the host of her Radio Adventure Theater, a listening session/variety show in Hartford.

She got her start in documentary radio at the Salt Institute in Portland, Maine. Since then, her work has aired on PRI’s The World, NPR’s Day to Day, and Weekend Edition Sunday, WBUR’s Here and Now, the NPR PRX podcast, and other NPR affiliate stations.  A native of Connecticut, Catie vowed to never return to the Nutmeg State. After living in Massachusetts, California and Maine – she’s back – and considers herself a leading advocate of keeping young people in the state.  She generally enjoys spending time with her large family, exploring the outdoors, and planning social events.

7pm -Bob Alexander Show Tunes Singalong

Join pianist and theater enthusiast Bob Alexander for a singalong of show tunes from classic Broadway and standards from the Great American Songbook.

8pm – Mark Erelli – Singer / Songwriter

Discovered in an impromptu 3am hotel room jam at a music conference when he was just 23, Erelli was finishing up a graduate degree in evolutionary biology when his self-titled debut was released in 1999. He hit the ground running when he won the prestigious Kerrville New Folk contest, joining the ranks of past winners such as Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith. With his sophomore release, Compass & Companion, Erelli embarked on a non-stop touring schedule, sharing the stage with the likes of Dave Alvin, John Hiatt, and Gillian Welch.

Over the next six years, Erelli eschewed the conventional studio environment in favor of recording live in a Civil War-era civic building for 2002′s The Memorial Hall Recordings, an ambitious mix of originals, traditionals and covers of tunes by his favorite New England songwriters. Next, Erelli teamed up with Boston country band The Spurs for Hillbilly Pilgrim, an entire collection of western swing originals “brimming over with wry, heartfelt songcraft, invigorating tempos and pedal-steel guitar dazzling as an Arizona sunset (Paste Magazine).” Finally, in 2006 Erelli and producer Lorne Entress holed up in a basement home studio to craft Hope & Other Casualties, a brave and searingly honest tour de force that addresses tough issues with “the grit of John Hiatt and the melancholy beauty of Ron Sexsmith (Washington Post).”

Erelli played 11 different instruments on Hope, ushering in the next stage in Erelli’s startling musical evoloution multi-instrumentalist sideman. He quickly gained notoriety for his instrumental prowess when he joined Warner Brothers Recording Artist (and long-time friend) Lori McKenna’s band. Erelli was by McKenna’s side in front of 15,00 people each night when she opened for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul tour in 2007, as well as on televised appearances on the Grand Ole Opry and Good Morning America.

Despite his burgeoning career as a sideman in the past few years, Erelli has continued to add to his own catalog with another trio of eclectic projects.

9pm – The Haymakers – Americana Duo

There’s an old Yankee saying that espouses the importance of making hay while the sun still shines, of taking advantage of fleeting moments to get a job done. When Rani Arbo and Mark Erelli, long-time friends with demanding solo careers, decided to team up and explore their love of duo singing and old-time country music, it wasn’t hard to come up with the moniker “The Haymakers.” “It’s a fitting title,” explains Erelli, “because in addition to being busy musicians we are both parents, so we’re just having some fun and trying something new in the few moments we can steal for ourselves. Veteran singer–songwriters and multi–instrumentalists (with fiddle, guitar, mandolin and harmonica), Arbo and Erelli trade lead and harmony vocals on original compositions, honkytonk gems, obscure rootsy classics and traditional American ballads.

10pm- 12am – Noah Baerman Jazz

Jazz pianist, composer, educator and author Noah Baerman grew up in Connecticut, studying jazz at New Haven’s Educational Center for the Arts and at Jackie McLean’s Artists’ Collective in Hartford. In the 1990s, he earned B.M. and M.M. degrees in Jazz Studies from Rutgers University, where his mentor was Kenny Barron.

From 1994-1999, he co-led the quartet Positive Rhythmic Force, performing throughout the east coast and recording two CDs.

Since then he has participated in numerous recordings as a sideman and under his own name. The second of these, his 2003 release Patch Kit, features the renowned bassist Ron Carter and drummer Ben Riley. By this time, Noah’s performing career had been hampered significantly by his struggles with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), an incurable connective tissue disorder. Patch Kit was conceived as benefit album for the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation and a means of raising awareness of EDS, and the album has succeeded on both counts. Patch Kit received significant airplay nationally and received press coverage in such publications as JazzTimes, Jazziz, Jazz Critics (Japan) and All About Jazz – New York. It also attracted the attention of many musicians, including legendary pianist Marian McPartland, who invited Noah to be a guest on her long-running NPR radio program “Piano Jazz” in 2005.

Patch Kit was followed by What It Is, a trio album documenting a live performance on Noah’s 30th birthday in December, 2003. His next album was 2005 release Soul Force, a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King’s life and message. Soul Force features a large ensemble including such guest artists as trombonist Robin Eubanks, percussionist Warren Smith and saxophonists Steve Wilson, Jimmy Greene, Wayne Escoffery and Claire Daly. The album demonstrates Noah’s continued commitment to “message music” in the tradition of artists like Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Nina Simone and Charlie Haden. In 2008 he released the trio album Bliss and was awarded a “New Works” grant from Chamber Music America/Doris Duke Foundation to create the extended suite Know Thyself, which was premiered in 2009 at Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts and at the Jazz Gallery in NY before being released in 2010 as an album.

Exit 43, the band is a life – enhancing, blood-flowing blend of Crosby Still & Nash type vocals with an invigorating twist of gospel and all in a beautiful soup of acoustic  folk guitars, piano and vocals. Our mission is to have fun and make the kind of music you can hear the lyrics to,  while shedding light on our truths in the way that Peter Paul and Mary sang about issues of their day.
On January 6th, we will do two sets of an artful blend of originals and some covers you may know with an Exit43 twist.
Our music is about peace, justice and the longing for the American Dream … in real life and in real time.
Please come and join us  .. you will have a good time and remember the night..

Exit 43 is:

Andy “A.J.” Gundell: Vocals/Guitars/Harmonica

Andy Gundell has been a professional musician for his entire career —feeling blessed to support himself and his family with his music, living his dream and making his passion his life’s work.  Along the way, he’s won 11 Emmy awards for his successes in television as a songwriter, singer, composer, and music supervisor.  His music appears on every major TV network and prominent cable channels.  He has collaborated with songwriters like the Grammy award-winning Julie Gold, and composers like Bill Cosby.  Andy’s own recordings are available on iTunes.  This group comes full circle for him, as his first gig out of college was also with a band.  He loves the record that he and Exit 43 have made—and he hopes you do, too.

Suzanne M. Sheridan: Vocals/Guitar

Suzanne M. Sheridan is a singer songwriter and guitarist who loves connecting with people through music. She has won honors in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and has sung jingles for Pepsi, Hardees, Hasbro, Texaco and others. She co-wrote the cult hit “90 Pound Suburban Housewife, Drivin’ in her SUV” with her life partner, Rozanne. She performs in theaters, churches, hospitals and clubs and has fronted several rock n’ roll bands in CT. Suzanne’s solo performances of her original songs have been heard in New York, Paris, England and Ireland. Suzanne teaches voice, guitar and YOUCANSING workshops.  Fueled by the Unitarian spiritual connection, this group and this music, she is honored to be affiliated with Exit 43.

Scarlett Lee Moore: Vocals/Percussion

Scarlett Lee Moore is a performer and band leader who has toured Europe, Asia and   The Middle East  with a mission to promote American music around the world.   She has appeared with  Pete Seeger, Ray Charles,   Rod Stewart,  Tao Rodriguez Seeger, Guy Davis, Lily Tomlin,   Jeanie Bryson,   Jose Feliciano, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, and others.  She primarily works in the New York tri-state area with her five-member  combo, the Scarlett Lee Moore Band.   She also has a European band with whom she tours internationally.   She was twice voted Fairfield County Connecticut’s Best Blues Performer.   Scarlett has two CD releases entitled ”Scarlett” and ”Scarlett Blue in Belgium.”

Ed Thompson: Piano/Keyboard

Ed Thompson is a classically trained keyboard player and choral conductor.  He is currently the Music Director of the Unitarian Church in Westport where he has developed an extensive music program that mirrors a wide variety of styles and genres.  He is active as a coach, an accompanist, an arranger, composer, conductor and teacher. Thompson has appeared three times in Carnegie Hall, and has concertized in both the US and Sweden. He is a member of the UU Musician’s Network, ASCAP, and other professional organizations.

One of our musical heroes, John Lennon, says, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

We, Exit 43, didn’t plan this. We came together serendipitously. Our friend, Karen Wright, asked us all to play
for a social event at the Unitarian Church in Westport where we are members. We got together on a November afternoon in 2004 to rehearse.
It was magical. And when you’ve been professional musicians for as long as each of us has, you learn to recognize the magic when it happens!

You stand up and pay attention. We noticed how easy it was… how naturally and effortlessly our voices blended to make harmonies…how instinctively the arrangements evolved.
Very simply – we had fun and, much to our surprise, we wanted to do more.
Why surprise? We are four different people. We come from differing cultures, musical backgrounds, and
experiences; we have differing tastes, preferences, appearances and ways of expressing ourselves. So what keeps us together?
It is the love of music, but not just any music. We, like most people, want to live, work, and create with integrity.
We long for a spirituality that is practical and can be realized in our daily lives.
We want to support and respect the inherent worth and dignity of each person.

We believe that war is not the answer, and that religion need not divide us. What kind of music would give expression to such ideals?
We had to create it. While we acknowledge the challenges that fill our lives, we want to hold out hope for this time, this place, and these people.

As the ancient voice of wisdom, Hillel, once said, “If not now, when?” The lyrics of these songs mirror this basic outlook and the songs speak for themselves.
We live in Fairfield County, Connecticut, through which the beautiful Merritt Parkway runs.

Curiously, while there are Exits 42 and 44, and both lead to our Unitarian Church, Exit 43 was never built.

We chose this imaginary exit for our band name because it is through the imagination that we can begin to build the kind of world we want.
And, in doing so, we are… finally… Home At Last!
We hope that these songs will inspire you to a life of more hope, authenticity, connection and love – and help you
to feel at home as well. To you who have joined us on this journey – thank you!!

http://exit43.net/index.html

We are considering a Sunday afternoon show, stay tuned for details to follow…

Thanks to all of you who called about the show! We know it will be a wonderful day here at TBT!

Come for the art show 4-6 and meet artist Debi Friedlander …